


tender is the night

by softkaz



Series: at night, henrietta felt like magic [4]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Phone Calls, also... . adam goes to harvard... ., post trk, ronan in crop tops !!!!!!!!!1, ronan is sleepy i am thriving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 22:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7776853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softkaz/pseuds/softkaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>pynch week 2k16, day 3, lonely nights:<br/>Adam Parrish did not usually feel lonely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	tender is the night

**Author's Note:**

> hope u enjoy this!! it's just... a bit of fluff... . a bit of long-distance call angst... . idk man

Adam Parrish did not usually feel lonely. **  
**

He had grown up to be a self-sufficient being, product of a childhood with a father whose scars he still bore on his body and a mother whose scars he still bore in his mind. He had never had brothers or sisters, and he hadn’t had any friends until Richard Gansey III’s loud orange Camaro had rolled into his life, boisterous and demanding, smooth with money and charming with its humility.

Then, he had understood what _not_ being lonely meant, and he had started getting used to it. He knew to expect a text from Blue when he woke up, complaining about having to go to school without them. He knew that Ronan or Gansey would be downstairs, ready to pick him up, and even if they weren’t there, he knew he would seem them at school. It was an ease he grew into, a luxury that grew on him without his every noticing.

After, when he left for college, he was too dizzy with the elation of _finally, finally,_ to feel lonely. There were simply too many things to do, too many new faces to see, too many hands to shake and professors to impress. Adam let himself get lost in the tempo of the classes and the people and the work, because now, it did not feel like a race. This was his prize, and he wanted to enjoy it as much as he could.

Now, though, he sat on his bed, and the night seemed bigger than it usually did. His roommate had gone to a party, but Adam had been too tired and perhaps too melancholic to attend, so he had stayed in his dorm. He found himself thinking of Henrietta, and more specifically of the Barns. He thought of Ronan, probably curled on the couch with Opal, watching mindless TV programs while waiting for his dinner to cook. It made his heart ache with wanting, though he felt mildly ashamed. Was _this_ not what he had wanted?  Still. He hadn’t seen Ronan in ages, and spring break was months away. He missed him, and he missed Henrietta and its winding streets and rude inhabitants and gentle, ethereal magic. He missed the Barns, and the animals, and Opal. And Ronan. Adam missed Ronan a lot.

He glanced at his phone, mentally willing it to ring. He wanted to hear Ronan’s voice. In his mind, there were the million car rides and the softness of Henrietta at night, the gentle hum of the Barns and their magic, and Opal, her head crowned with leaves. He ached and ached. He wondered—

His phone rang, startling him. He didn’t react, at first. His heart was hammering in his chest. The screen blinked back at him, flashing, again and again, _Ronan Ronan Ronan._

He felt like Cabeswater was listening to him, even here. Perhaps this was just its magic, chasing him all the way to Boston, Massachusetts.

He shook his head, wondering when he had gotten so sentimental. Perhaps it was Ronan’s fault. He picked up the phone.

“Adam,” Ronan said, immediately. His voice was lazy with sleep. “I miss you, you fucking asshole.”

Adam mentally cursed himself. He was a second away from either bursting out laughing or starting to cry. “Hi,” he managed to say, without doing either.

Gansey had told him, once, that Blue made him quiet. He had described love as silence, instead of the roaring, all-consuming creature Adam knew others said it was. Being new to love, he had wondered for a long time which of the two it was. He thought it was funny, really, because when people thought of Ronan Lynch they did not think of silence. But now, with Boston a speck of blurry light outside his window, and Henrietta so out of his reach, he thought perhaps Gansey had been right. Ronan started telling him something Opal had done today, affection making his voice soft and eager, and it made something inside of Adam that had gone askew fit back together. 

They talked for a long time. At one point, when Ronan suspected Adam was falling asleep, he blared the Murder Squad song over the phone, and Adam sat in complete silence for a few minutes after that as revenge. It was easy for them, even though they hadn’t seen each other for so long. It was always easy. They were the dreamer and the magician, even now. Their magic fit.  

“How’s Opal?” Adam said, at some point.

“She’s good. I’ve taught her that eating human food is so much better than chewing on furniture. Also, we went clothes shopping again the other day. She’s obsessed with these things called ‘crop tops’. To be honest, they’re really fucking cool. Kinda remind me of Noah. I got, like, three for myself as well.”

Adam closed his eyes and marveled at the thought of Ronan in a cropped top. He swallowed. “I miss you,” he said, in response.

There was a brief silence. Ronan wasn’t good with words, but Adam was good with Ronan, so he already half-knew what he was going to say. 

“I miss you, too,” Ronan said, finally, his voice hesitant. He took a deep breath— he was trying hard, Adam knew. Ronan Lynch used to be a liar. It was hard, now, when Adam always demanded the truth. “But— I know that if you come home you’ll be happy for about, like, a day, and then you will want to go back.” Another deep breath. “So. Magician. Tell me about your classes, and please assure me again that none of your professors are ex-murderers.”

Adam laughed, and just like that, the atmosphere shifted. He allowed the subject to be changed, and relaxed back on the bed, closing his eyes. Talking was easier like this, because he could pretend that Ronan was next to him and not states away. 

They talked and talked, and outside, the night shifted. They were both tired, but they were more stubborn than anything else. They talked about nothing in particular, but it wasn’t so much about what they were saying, anyway. It was just the sound of Ronan’s voice in his ear, the sound of his breathing crackling through every once in a while. 

 

* * *

 

 

“No fucking way. Parrish,” Ronan said, suddenly. His voice was giddy. “Open your eyes.”

Adam did. His room was coated in fierce, impossible, orange light. Outside, the city was waking up, and the sun was too. Had they talked all night?

He blinked in surprise. “What time is it?”

“It’s 6am. You don’t have classes today, do you?”

Adam laughed. “It’s Saturday.”

“Thankfully, I’ve been in the Barns long enough to forget the social construct that is time and date.” He paused. “I’m sorry I kept you up.”

Strangely, Adam wasn’t tired. Time had slipped by them. He kind of wanted to get up and run all the way to Virginia. Now, he didn’t feel quiet. He was buzzing, high on Ronan’s voice and lack of sleep. So. Perhaps love could be both, he thought. Ronan certainly was. This monster of a boy who also planted flowers and petted wild animals in his back yard.

Adam smiled a content, sleepy smile. Dawn was chilly in his room, but he didn’t mind. 

“I’ll talk to you later,” Ronan said, finally. He was half-asleep already. 

There were a million other things to be said, pointless and not, but there was time. Adam reminded himself of this. Life was no longer a race, even though the night made him forget this, sometimes. He had time, but he had trouble getting used to that fact. His life had expanded, and he was trying hard to keep up with it, or rather— to slow down along with it. 

“I love you,” he said, and it was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> hope u enjoyed!!! aa.... !!! comments/feedback r always appreciated!! <3 hit me up on tumblr @softkings


End file.
